Internet, China and Russia destroying US, rock and roll

How did Nicks and Mellencamp get so paranoid?

An ageing and increasingly cantankerous rock aristocracy is pointing its arthritic fingers at the internet, blaming it for destroying America, and even more worryingly, rock and roll.

Fleetwood Mac songstress Stevie Nicks told the New York Daily News this week that the net "has destroyed rock. Children no longer develop social graces. They don't hang out anymore."

Nicks, who was herself legendary for breaching a whole raft of social mores, added: "There are a lot of people out there as talented as we were, but they can't sustain being in a rock 'n' roll band for long without success. We were able to, but we're going to die out."

This isn't 62 year old Nicks' first tirade against the net. Last year she declared her belief that "computers have taken over the world" and "have in many ways ruined our children".

The problem it seems is that they don't go out and play, or, when they're older, hang out.

Nicks' blast came just days after small town rocker John Cougar Mellencamp declared the internet to be the most dangerous invention since the atomic bomb.

According to Reuters, Mellencamp, who used to style himself Cougar, was less worried about the net's ability to stop kids hanging out, as the danger that "some smart people, the China-Russians or something" might have already conquered America by hacking into the power grid and financial system.

The 58-year-old also voiced concerns that the net had killed the music business, and was in the process of killing the movie business, though it isn't clear if this is the net acting on its own or in concert with the China-Russians.

The net's effect on music wasn't just down to illegal downloads. Even official MP3s destroyed "the warmth and quality of what the artist intended for us to hear," he declared

Mellencamp lapsed into full morose mood when he said rock and roll was sliding into history, and would soon be as relevant as big band music.

We're not sure exactly what technology put paid to big band music, though we understand Glen Miller had his doubts about valve powered amplification, though sadly for him his techno-scepticism did not extend to aviation.

Incidentally, Mellencamp and Nicks are both touting new albums, both of which will no doubt be available for download. ®